TECHNOLOGY

5Qs for CIOs and CFOs to Ask About Corporate Travel and Expense in 2023

Published

10 months ago

January 18, 2023

5Qs for CIOs and CFOs to Ask About Corporate Travel and Expense in 2023

How important is the relationship between technology and financial leaders?

Two words: game changer. Yet, according to Gartner, only “30% of CFO-CIO relationships can be described as strong digital partnerships – capable of outperforming their peers in financial management practices that are unique to funding digital.” One area where the two can work more closely together is travel and expense management. Why? Because business travel drives competition and revenue, and expenses are one of the largest sources of employee spending.

With greater distance between today and the pandemic, business travel continues to ramp up. Face-to-face is the new competitive advantage. One sales VP shared recently that he set down the theme for 2023 with his team: get off email and get in front of customers.

The VP’s sentiments are affirmed by SAP Concur surveys of 100 U.S. finance managers (vice president and above) and 1,000 U.S. business travelers. They found that most finance managers (88%) said their company experienced a revenue loss over the past year—an average of $106,670—as a direct result of employees’ inability to travel at pre-pandemic levels.

Business travelers are on the same page about the necessity. Nearly half (44%) said that their company needed an increase in business travel to remain viable beyond 2022, 35% said the same for their career, and 30% said the same for their entire industry.

Yet, 2023 brings a whole new set of uncertainties – primarily economic. That’s why I’ve assembled five questions – or the 5Qs – CFOs and CIOs can explore together that give a fuller spending picture on business travel.

CIOs and CFOs in the Sandbox: 5Qs to Explore

Here are five questions for CIOs and CFOs to explore to contain costs, improve traveler experiences and more efficiently track expenses in real time.

1. Is the organization’s current expense solution unnecessarily using IT resources or outdated technology?

The old adage “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” holds companies back. An IDC research report found that roughly 80% of today’s AP managers’ time is spent on lower-level financial tasks, such as invoice matching, purchase requisition, and vendor management – all tasks that have the potential to be automated.

2. Is there a backlog of enhancement requests or report creation requests from users that cannot be addressed in a reasonable amount of time?

Finance isn’t seen as a sexy place to innovate by ERP providers. However, not investing in finance functionality is a mistake with long-term consequences. Companies that turn a blind eye and continue this path aren’t benefiting from the innovations being developed – from major cost savings across more areas of the business to growth opportunities for rising finance team talent.

3. Has the vendor of the technology announced an “end-of-life” strategy for the product? Or is the product in “maintenance only” mode?

Prepare for a technology’s “end of life” by transitioning to longer term solutions that create a more positive end-user experience, integrate travel data to give a company an end-to-end view of spend, or access to near, real-time data with insightful, visual reports.

4. Is the organization favoring solutions that increase the end-user experience?

According to a Forrester research report, “In the US, travel and expense software is considered the most important tool for enabling good employee experience.” The easier these processes are for employees, the more likely they will follow organizational protocols, budgets, and safety measures.

5. Is the organization capturing all employee spend data in one place?

With multiple platforms capturing and aggregating all employee spend, companies risk not being compliant with government or industry regulations and increase their chances of fraud. It takes, on average, 14 months to detect a fraud scheme, according to an ACFE report. The big takeaway is: simplify. When finance has control and visibility into the details of where and how company dollars are spent, it becomes easier to detect fraud quickly.

Financial Transformation: It’s Real-Time All the Way!

The role of money is evolving. Whether it’s touchless or automated payments, blockchain or a shiny new cryptocurrency wallet, change is here. One prediction, however, by Deloitte is on point: Finance is going real-time. There will be less reporting and more real-time visualization. Here, technology offers solutions.

SAP Concur’s findings back this up: business travelers want to see their company invest in adding or updating apps with real-time travel updates and booking (46%), tools for quicker expense reimbursement (43%), and tools for navigating the latest travel safety requirements (41%). A travel management system (40%) and an integrated system for travel and expense reporting (39%) round out their top five.

Finance managers themselves see change as inevitable. The study revealed that 100% said that their role has changed — and has become more challenging — since the start of the pandemic.

Reasons include taking on additional work caused by staffing shortages (59%), additional auditing and paperwork requirements (45%), and new or added involvement in internal communications (45%). On average, they are spending six hours each week on these tasks. Tech solutions, like embedded machine learning and human verification, modernize finance.

CFO-CIO Team Requires Solving for X Together

Based on SAP Concur’s research, 66% of senior executives believe a strong partnership between IT and finance leaders enables the organization to remain agile in the face of unforeseen challenges. This I know: whether in my role as a parent, business advisor or board member, one of the best ways to get people pulling in the same direction is through a united pursuit of something bigger than themselves.

Start with these five questions – and watch amazing things unfold. As CIOs and CFOs tackle big issues together, like balancing the benefits of business travel against a “do more with less” business environment, they cover more ground and help everyone, including the travelers themselves, arrive at a better destination.

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SAP Concur is a platform used by more than 46,000 businesses to connect financial data with greater spending control. I’ve used SAP Concur’s travel, expense and invoicing platform even before it was acquired by SAP in 2014. Learn more about SAP Concur solutions here.

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TECHNOLOGY

AWS and SoftwareOne collaborate on RISE with SAP

Published

6 days ago

November 22, 2023

Max

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and SoftwareOne Holding AG, a global provider of end-to-end software and cloud technology solutions, have partnered to help customers transition to RISE with SAP on an AWS cloud environment.

Called the Ready for RISE on AWS bundle, it combines SoftwareOne’s deep SAP advisory and implementation knowledge with AWS technologies to expedite a client’s SAP transformation journey.

The collaboration comes at a time when there is growing pressure on organisations to decide how to modernise their SAP environments driven in part by the end of mainstream support for SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC) in 2027. Despite the imminent deadline, many organisations are still confused as to which path to take, including when to adopt RISE with SAP, SAP’s bundled offering of cloud solutions, infrastructure, and services that helps migrate SAP ERP to the cloud.

Ireneusz Hołowacz, Director of Application Development Center at GAVDI Polska, said: “A stable, efficient, and cost-effective environment for consultants and programmers is one of the most important priorities of our daily work. Thanks to the migration of our SAP systems to the AWS cloud with the help of SoftwareOne, GAVDI Polska has achieved all the goals set for this process.

In a survey recently conducted by SoftwareOne with Americas’ SAP Users’ Group (ASUG) – the full details of which will be revealed in January 2024 – showed that while 42% of respondents were familiar with RISE with SAP, 40% had heard of it but weren’t familiar with the details and 18% had never heard of it. Over half (52%) said they were still unsure how RISE with SAP would impact their existing relationship with cloud service providers.

“SAP customers have implemented some of the most comprehensive and complex enterprise systems in the industry and moving them to cloud services like AWS requires many important decisions to be made to optimise these investments,” says Joshua Greenbaum, Principal at EAC. “SoftwareOne’s extensive experience in the SAP ecosystem, combined with its unique capabilities around system rationalisation, cost containment, contracts and licenses, and cloud service management, among others, will provide customers deploying on AWS with the ability to make the most of RISE on SAP and other SAP offerings. Ready for RISE on AWS is an important offering for SAP customers at this critical moment in their business transformations.”

The Ready for RISE on AWS bundle will help clients understand their SAP transformation options and offer a comprehensive solution to organisations who consider RISE with SAP. It includes advisory data preparation, conversion services, data and AI, cloud innovation platform, supporting the entire journey to RISE on AWS. Clients will benefit from accelerated Return on Investment (ROI), optimal data management, and cost-saving strategies while laying the foundation for ongoing innovation and long-term business success.

Matt Schwartz, worldwide director, SAP Alliance & Partner Network at AWS, said: “As a valued AWS Premier Consulting Partner, AWS is working closely with SoftwareOne to offer SAP customers comprehensive assistance through each step of their journey to RISE with SAP on AWS. SoftwareOne’s ability to bundle Advisory, Data & AI, Cloud Platform, and Operations considerations can be of high interest to customers who are seeking to understand RISE with SAP as well as the cloud native and operation considerations that surround and support the RISE with SAP construct.”

PF Grillet, SAP Business Lead at SoftwareOne, said: “There are many choices available to SAP clients who know they need to modernise but aren’t sure of the best option, particularly given the business-critical nature of the applications.

“All of our services are centered around our customers and what is right for them. This includes supporting and optimising RISE with SAP in scenarios when it’s the right decision based on their requirements. Our extensive knowledge of and relationship with AWS means we can help them better prepare and achieve a seamless transition to S/4HANA using RISE with SAP on AWS with reduced costs and risks. This collaboration goes beyond preparing businesses for change; it’s making transformation and becoming innovation-ready a reality using AWS technologies.”

The offering includes SNP tooling to reduce a customer’s data footprint and accelerate migration. SoftwareOne will migrate selected data to an AWS data lake, accelerate innovation readiness and ensure SAP data is suitable for broader data analytics and AI use cases. Clients gain access to innovative tools like AWS’ Sagemaker for Machine Learning, continuous data management and optimisation within the AWS environment. The AWS innovation platform also includes Amazon Bedrock that helps organisations accelerate adapting Large Language Models and deploying GenAI use cases that leverage the extended data set.

“While the future innovation opportunities are exciting, clients need to balance these with a pragmatic approach to costs,” explained Marilyn Moodley, Country Leader for South Africa and WECA at SoftwareOne, “We integrate ‘Cost-Out’ recommendations into the core of our services, providing a more cost-effective solution for customers, like reducing the data footprint size and optimising storage and archiving.

“Our expertise in the complexities of SAP licensing further drives cost savings while our FinOps capabilities enable customers to optimise their AWS cloud spend and effectively manage their AWS cloud environment, ensuring full transparency in their budgets. The overall result is a significantly reduced time for RISE migration, which translates into a quicker time to value.”

Want to learn more about cybersecurity and the cloud from industry leaders? Check out Cyber Security & Cloud Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

Tags: AWS, partnership, SAP, SoftwareOne, transition

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TECHNOLOGY

Appian unveils winners of its International Partner Awards

Published

6 days ago

November 22, 2023

Max

Software firm Appian has announced the winners of its 2023 International Partner Awards at the Appian Europe conference in London.

The awards recognise partners who have demonstrated exceptional dedication, innovation and excellence in leveraging the Appian Platform to deliver transformational business value to clients through end-to-end process automation.

Christopher O’Connell, VP of Partners & Alliances, said: “These exceptional partners have successfully delivered excellent business outcomes with our European customers by implementing process automation with the Appian Platform.

“This year’s winners have showcased unwavering commitment, innovation, and transformative power by partnering with Appian. We’re proud to recognize their achievements at the 2023 Appian International Partner Awards. Their dedication and passion for excellence exemplify the values we hold dear at Appian, and we look forward to further collaboration in the journey of innovation and transformation.”

The winners are as follows:

Delivery Award – EY

EY Italy is the proud recipient of the Delivery Award, which acknowledges their unwavering commitment to excellence and project delivery for an Italian energy customer. EY Italy’s innovative project management, attention to detail, and seamless integration of the customer’s unique needs into the solution led to transformative outcomes. Their deep understanding of Appian’s capabilities and passion for delivering exceptional value has accelerated project timelines and enhanced the overall quality of deliverables.

Innovation Award – KPMG UK

KPMG’s end-to-end Customer Due Diligence (CDD) service reduces the average case handling time and improves the first-time resolution of cases, allowing global banking institutions to focus back on the core parts of their business. KPMG leverages the Appian Platform to implement continuous improvements and customer data insights throughout the lifetime of the engagement. KPMG ensures a customised and rapid implementation of the CDD service, tailored to each client’s specific business needs. KPMG has built over 5,000 reusable Appian objects and with their onshore/offshore Appian delivery capability has reduced end-to-end platform build time by 40%.

Growth Award – Minsait, an Indra Company

Minsait receives the Growth Award for their remarkable expansion of the Appian practice. In the past year, they increased the number of globally certified practitioners by over 25%. Minsait’s commitment to education is evident through its internal training practice, which has successfully educated more than 200 students, and its collaboration with local universities to certify 100 additional consultants in 2024. To support their growth, Minsait has established a Centre of Excellence, extending their expertise across Europe, LATAM, and the Philippines.

Transformation Award – PwC Spain

PwC is the recipient of the Transformation Award for their remarkable project at one of the top 10 insurance companies in Europe. PwC’s comprehensive transformation involved decommissioning the customer’s legacy platform and migrating all applications (which serve over 25,000 users) to the Appian Platform. This transformation enables the customer to handle complex workflows, develop new applications, and adapt to future business needs with agility.

Partner of the Year for EMEA Channel Sales – VASS

VASS is recognised as the Partner of the Year for EMEA Channel Sales in acknowledgement of their outstanding contributions to Appian’s growth and success in the region. As a leading provider of transformative digital solutions and consulting in 22 countries on four continents, VASS has achieved the highest annual contract value (ACV) in the region through close partnership and collaboration as an Appian reseller.

Tags: Appian, awards

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TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft Appoints Sam Altman to Lead New Advanced AI Team

Published

7 days ago

November 21, 2023

Max

Microsoft Appoints Sam Altman to Lead New Advanced AI Team

In a strategic move, Microsoft has hired Sam Altman to spearhead a newly formed advanced artificial intelligence team.

This decision comes after the failed attempt to reinstall Altman as the chief executive of OpenAI, where he was terminated for alleged lack of consistent communication with the board. Altman’s expertise in the AI industry has prompted Microsoft to swiftly bring him on board to lead its new AI research team.

Satya Nadella Wants Sam Altman to Lead Its Dynamic AI Research Team

Satya_Nadella_Wants_Sam_Altman_to_Lead_Its_Dynamic_AI_Research_Team.jpg

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed Altman’s appointment and revealed that he, along with OpenAI’s former president Greg Brockman, will lead the advanced AI research team. The company expressed its enthusiasm about providing the necessary resources for the success of this venture. Microsoft remains committed to its partnership with OpenAI, but Altman and Brockman’s recruitment hints at a notable shift in talent dynamics.

Unrest and Resignations at OpenAI

Following Altman’s removal, OpenAI experienced a tumultuous weekend, culminating in the appointment of Emmett Shear, co-founder of Twitch, as the company’s interim CEO. Microsoft’s quick action in hiring Altman and Brockman for a significant AI role indicates a potential migration of key OpenAI personnel to Microsoft.

Failed Negotiations and Ongoing Tensions at OpenAI

Despite attempts to reinstate Altman as OpenAI’s CEO, talks over the weekend proved futile. Altman had hinted at the possibility of starting a new company with former OpenAI colleagues. Reports suggest discussions with Apple’s former design chief Jony Ive about developing a new AI hardware device. Tensions among OpenAI staff are evident, with indications of unrest and coordinated messages expressing that “OpenAI is nothing without its people.”

OpenAI’s Complex Boardroom Drama

The timeline of events surrounding Sam Altman’s involvement with OpenAI is intricate. From his abrupt firing to the failed negotiations for his return, the saga involves protests, resignations, and an ever-evolving boardroom dynamic. Microsoft’s decisive move to bring Altman into the fold underscores the competitive nature of the AI industry and the value placed on key figures in shaping its future.

Sam Altman Set to Lead The Future of Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft

How Microsoft Uses Machine Learning

As Altman takes the reins of Microsoft‘s advanced AI team, the industry watches closely to see how this move will impact the company’s AI initiatives. The integration of Altman and Brockman, both seasoned leaders in the AI domain, signals Microsoft’s commitment to staying at the forefront of AI research and development. The ongoing narrative highlights the challenges and opportunities in navigating the complex landscape of AI advancements and corporate partnerships.

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